I was afraid it was a failure (the rise wasn’t what I expected), but googled ‘semolina bread’ and learned it’s really not a “poofy” loaf! I did think it was too salty – but I’m going to try again with less salt.

The salt was spot on…the rise was my issue. It rose, but not very high. Didn’t have a razor…used a sharp knife, but hardly slashed it because it seemed like it was going to deflate. I stopped while I was ahead…maybe I should have baked it more to get a darker crust. Didn’t care for the smell of the bread when it came out of the oven. It was sort of a sour dough type smell and butter…offputting. It was strange. Overall…it was ok.

The next day I made appetizers; slices of toasted bread topped with slices of London Broil drizzled with olive oil. This worked out well.

I had to sit this one out, due to our extremely hot and humid weather recently. Turning on the oven to bake was more than I could handle ;) I’ve been reading the P&Q and the chatter and will be curious to see how mine turns out once it cools down enough to bake it! ;)

I actually think mine turned out pretty good. I did reduce the salt slightly and added sesame seeds and an egg wash. I would make this again! And probably will because I don’t know what else to do with the leftover semolina flour I have.

I thought it was good. Nice and crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. And really forgiving because those rise times kept getting away from me. I did cut down on the salt to 1 1/2 tsp and could probably cut it 1/4 tsp more. I will definitely make it again. It actually worked in super humid Houston! Yeah!

I was worried after seeing all the complaints about salt level in the P&Q, since I stupidly went to check once the dough was on its first rise… but I actually found the salt level was just perfect (though, I do prefer my bread to be slightly salty, so that may explain it). I can see how it would be a bit much with salted butter or cold cuts, though.

My loaf came out very light and fluffy, probably because I used a fine semolina flour (same one we use for making pasta). The only adjustment I ended up making was baking for an extra 10 mins, because loaf was still quite pale after 35 mins in the oven.

Mine wasn’t overly salty, though I probably would drop the salt down to 1 1/2 tsp. Two hours at room temperature didn’t cut it for the rises. I finished the rises in a warm-ish oven (90-120 degreees F); even then it didn’t rise too much.

My loaf also had a third rise in a loaf pan after it flattened and spread during the second rise.